US wary of nuclear blast to stop Gulf oil leak

June 3, 2010

Reuters

The official in charge of managing the U.S. response to the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday downplayed the possibility of using a nuclear or other explosive device to try to seal off the well.

"I think that's really on the peripheral of things we ought to be talking about right now," Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said when asked about suggestions that a nuclear explosion be used to seal off the leak.

"It hasn't been seriously briefed to me," Allen told ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "I think you'd have to run out of a lot of things before you'd consider something like that."

Asked about the possibility of using other explosive devices to try to seal the well, Allen said a blast could make things even worse by exposing oil-bearing rock formations directly to the sea bed.

"We don't know the condition of the well bore, what happened before and after the explosion," he said.

He told ABC the failure of the top kill procedure to seal the well by pumping mud into the well bore indicated "there actually could be something wrong with the well casing and there could be open communication in the strata or the rock formations below the sea floor."

"I don't think we want to take a chance of somehow disturbing that where the oil would have direct access to the sea floor. To my mind that would be a pretty serious risk," Allen said.

His comments came after The New York Times reported on Thursday that the U.S. government was not considering using a nuclear device despite reports that some experts and armchair engineers were suggesting it.


The Soviet Union reportedly used nuclear devices several decades ago to successfully seal off runaway gas wells, the Times said.

But it quoted a U.S. Energy Department spokeswoman as saying neither Energy Secretary Steven Chu nor anyone else was contemplating a nuclear blast to try to halt the leak spewing hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf.

"It's crazy," the Times quoted one senior official as saying of the nuclear idea. 
by David Alexander; Editing by Doina Chiacu
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN03226400

Mexico eyes up to 10 new nuclear plants by 2028

May 12, 2010

Reuters

Mexico may build up to 10 new nuclear power stations by 2028 under one scenario being evaluated by the state electricity monopoly, the company said in a presentation on Wednesday.

Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, currently has four scenarios for new power generation capacity from 2019- 28 that range from a heavy reliance on coal-fired power plants to meet growing demand to a low-carbon scenario that calls for big investments in nuclear and wind power, said Eugenio Laris, who is in charge of investment projects at the company.

Mexico currently operates a single nuclear power station at Laguna Verde in the state of Veracruz along the Gulf of Mexico.

Construction of the plant, which entered commercial operation in the 1990s, took nearly 20 years and the high cost of developing nuclear power stations has so far deterred the CFE from building another.

However, the government of President Felipe Calderon has made tackling climate change a priority. Calderon has promised to make voluntary cuts in carbon dioxide emissions by reducing natural gas flaring and through more efficient use of energy. He has indicated his willingness to further cut Mexico's carbon emissions with financial assistance from wealthier nations.

The country's new national energy policy calls for an increase in carbon-free power generation to 35 percent of capacity from 27 percent currently. Also, changes to energy legislation now require the CFE to consider externalities such as the potential cost of carbon emissions when planning new generation capacity.

"This is going to be the first year that the CFE takes into account what is established in our national energy strategy to determine what the mixture will be for our generation," Energy Minister Georgina Kessel told reporters.

The CFE has traditionally been bound by a requirement to ensure that the electricity it produces is the lowest cost possible. While this rule remains in place, the additional requirement to focus on externalities like carbon emissions will have a significant impact on the country's electricity industry.

Under the CFE's most aggressive scenario, nuclear energy would supply nearly a quarter of Mexico's power needs by 2028, which would allow the country's carbon emissions from power generation to remain virtually unchanged from 2008 despite projections of substantially higher demand.

By contrast the coal-reliant scenario calls for the building of 14 coal-fired generation stations that would double carbon emissions over the same period.

(Reporting by Robert Campbell; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64B6CF20100512